Much has been said about peace. However, there is a big difference to talk about peace and to live in peace with yourself and others. To clear up any misunderstandings about what peace does not mean for me right at the beginning: To walk through live always totally serene and to not have any negative feelings like anger or impatience and to say “Yes and Amen“ to everything.

But what can we do to grow into inner peace more and more and to keep it in daily life even in dif-ficult situations?

1. Acceptance is the first step: Accept  what you cannot change. Don’t turn the energy of non-acceptance against yourself. Let go, again and again and concentrate on what is right in front of you. You just cannot change what happened in the past.

2. You are peace. Everything that you need in order to find your inner peace can be found within yourself. You might sometimes have thoughts like “I don’t have enough money“, “…not enough friends“, “I do not get enough love“, “I am not successful enough“. The concept of lacking something is there for you to make you look where you can find – within yourself. You do not feel loved? Love! Do you feel lonely? Be your own best friend, be a best friend to others! Do you feel disadvantaged financially? Have you already discovered your treasures? How much do you value yourself? Do you really know who you are and what qualities you have? Thoughts of lacking something can motivate you to unite your human being with your divine being more and more. Gratitude for what you already have puts you on the right track.

3. Take responsibility for yourself. If you react to a person, a place or a situation emotionally, these are primarily your thoughts. Show responsibility for them. You cannot change other people. How others encounter you tells first and foremost about them, not about you. So do not make others responsible for your own feelings. Let go of these dependencies. Feelings come and go. Become aware again and again that you do not consist only of your thoughts and feelings. We are so much more than we think we are.

4. Love everything that you are. At some point we made an agreement with ourselves. We like positive feelings. We like to feel good. But we tend to deny negative feelings. Who likes to be angry, frustrated or sad? Life however consists of both. The feelings we suppress begin to live a hidden life, they become our shadows. And they will catch up with us one day. A widespread strategy says: Transform all the unpleasant as soon as possible. Of course we want to grow. But how do you want to find peace if you do not accept yourself deeply with everything that you are (at the moment)? Each person has both sides. Stop judging. Love yourself endlessly for everything that you are. Your shadow will lose power over you and you will grow beyond good and bad and into your inner peace.

5. Do not be dependent on the opinion of others. If you are not successful or if you can’t find recognition for what you do at the moment you might get frustrated more easily. People talk about others anyway. Maybe they talk about you, too. Keep doing what makes you happy and fulfills you with joy. Listen to your inner voice. It’s your life.

6. Anger and resentment. There is a healthy way to express anger. Don’t try to exclude anger. Experience yourself in full! When you suppress anger it can become a resentment that stays with you. May be disputes begin to take place in your head. This is like taking a piece of a burning coal and trying to throw it against someone else. You will burn yourself. When you feel hurt or when you resent someone, try this: Wish the person everything that you are deeply longing for yourself. Everything you believe that can make the other person happy. Try it for a few days or weeks, whenever the resentment comes up, and see what happens.

7. Also be aware of this: Nobody can really hurt you. Your feelings might be hurt but your very inner being can never really be touched by the human experiences that you have. From this perspective it might be easier for you to forgive. You don’t forgive others for their sake but for your own sake in order to be at peace with yourself. And don’t forget to forgive yourself, too. Practice makes perfect — forgiveness makes perfect! This doesn’t mean that you have to like everyone. Just practise forgiveness. Do yourself a big favour.